Early Signs Of Pregnancy Vary From Woman To Woman

You might think that missing your menstrual period is the first sign you will have that you are pregnant but that is not true. There are other early signs of pregnancy that you might experience that let you know that your body is getting ready to nurture another human being for the next nine months.

Every woman is different and every pregnancy is different. You may be a person who almost instantly recognizes that something is different with your body, or you may need to miss several periods and begin seeing a baby bump before you know you are pregnant. There are even cases where women have gone nearly their entire pregnancy without knowing they were carrying a child.

Earliest Signs of Pregnancy

One of the earliest signs of pregnancy is light spotting and some cramping soon after conception, when the egg implants itself into the wall of the uterus. The cramping can be caused by the actual implantation or by your uterus stretching in anticipation of the baby it is about to carry. You may or may not experience these symptoms or they may go unnoticed. Within the next month, you will either miss your menstrual period entirely, or you will notice that it is much lighter and lasts a much shorter time than usual.

Very soon after you become pregnant, your breasts may feel swollen or tender and your areolas may darken. This is your body’s response to pregnancy hormones that are flooding it.

An early sign of pregnancy is nausea when exposed to certain foods or actual vomiting, most commonly in the morning, though it can occur at any time of the day or night. The best way to deal with this is to avoid the foods that turn your stomach and stick to a bland diet. A more acute sense of smell may be another symptom of your pregnancy and this can contribute to your sensitivity to certain foods.

Because you suddenly crave a food you do not even like to eat, or can’t even look at one of your favorite foods, your body may be signaling you that something is different.

Fatigue is Common

You may also feel more tired than usual as your body adjusts to the growing fetus. This feeling of fatigue usually is worst during the first trimester. In the second trimester, you may feel a surge of energy. This is often followed by fatigue in the third trimester, as the fetus grows and crowds your internal organs and your weight gain slows you down.

Lower back pain is one of the common early signs of pregnancy and often returns later because of the added weight you are carrying on your frame. Your joints and ligaments loosen during pregnancy to accommodate the baby and prepare for delivery.

You will likely find yourself making visits to the restroom more frequent once you become pregnant. Making a baby is hard work for your body and requires many of its normal operating systems to go into overdrive, causing urination that is more frequent.